Roses and thorns: 4/29/12

April 28, 2012 10:55:24 PM

A thorn to Gov. Phil Bryant who last week made the ridiculous comment that the left's "one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb." The governor's rantings bring to mind demagogues from Mississippi's past. Laws restricting abortion run counter to the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade and stand a good chance of being ruled unconstitutional. While we mean no criticism of Bryant's beliefs on abortion, the issue is not a viable one as far as states are concerned. Bryant and the Legislature should spend their energies on viable legislation that improves the lot of Mississippians, reducing teen pregnancy, for example. To his credit, the governor addressed the issue in his inauguration speech, asserting it needed to be combated as a social as well as public health issue. "[We] must realize that the highest teen pregnancy rate in America will eventually cripple our state. Such a change in a societal norm is possible," Bryant said. We urge the governor to work to make it so.

A rose to the YMCA, Columbus Kiwanis Club, Stark Aerospace and Carl Hogan Dodge for organizing and sponsoring the annual Healthy Kids Day Saturday at the Columbus Riverwalk.

The free event offered fun for the whole family, with relay races, face painting, health screenings, fingerprinting, and prizes which ranged from a week at summer camp to swimming lessons and birthday parties at the Y. And we're sure we're not the only ones who enjoyed the good-natured tug-of-war between local politicos Mayor Robert Smith and Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders. Smith won the first round, and Sanders won the second, but both had the help and support of the community -- as it should be.

A great deal of time and effort went into the planning, as evidenced by how smoothly everything went. With the advent of summer, it's not too soon to begin thinking about how to keep the children occupied, and the YMCA is an excellent way to keep their bodies strong and their minds sharp during the long, lazy days ahead.

A rose to the Lowndes County Cattlemen's Association for their dedication to the education of Lowndes County students.

The group was out in full force Saturday afternoon in the parking lot at Kroger, selling carry-out dinners as part of their annual scholarship fundraiser. At $10 for a healthy slab of melt-in-your-mouth beef, a baked potato and a salad, it was hands-down the best meal deal of the day. For a dollar more, you could take a shot at winning -- what else? -- more beef, specifically, an entire ribeye valued between $150 and $180.

Last year, the group sold 3,200 dinners, and they were hoping to sell even more this year. We did our best to help them achieve their goal, and we hope you did as well. If you didn't, you missed a mighty fine lunch and a good chance to bolster the scholarship coffers for our local youth.